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Traditional clay bole for Water Gilding

BOLE Clay for gilding

Genuine clay bole for Traditional Water Gilding

BOLE - Clay for gilding

Traditional clay bole for Traditional Water Gilding

Gilder’s burnish clay or clay bole is an essential part of the traditional water gilding system with gold and silver leaf. Brushed in multiple thin coats over a primed or gesso surface, burnish clay is what allows water gilded gold or silver to be polished to a mirror gloss finish.

Dry cone - Traditional Clay bole

Selhamin burnish clay is available in dry cone form which needs to be crushed, reconstituted with water into a slurry and screened before being mixed with a prepared adhesive (such as rabbit skin glue). Selhamin clay is also available in a prepared paste in which the preliminary reconstituting has already been done.

Wet Clay - Modern alternative to Traditional Water Gilding.

BOLE - Selhamin Burnishing Clay

Selhamin burnish clay is available in dry cone form which needs to be crushed, reconstituted with water into a slurry and screened before being mixed with a prepared adhesive (such as rabbit skin glue). Selhamin clay is also available in a prepared paste in which the preliminary reconstituting has already been done.

Selhamin burnish clay is available in a range of traditional oxide/earth colors to compliment the various shades or alloys of gold and silver leaf. It should be noted that silver can be affected by minerals in the burnishing clays and the Selhamin blue clays have been especially formulated to avoid this.

Burnishing Clay SELHAMIN CLAY - POLIMENT made in Germany. Selhamin burnishing clays are available in both the dry cone and premixed forms. The dry cone clay is packaged in the three listed sizes. The premixed is only available in the one kilogram sizes. View color chart.